Monday, September 24, 2012

Part three of SSF’s Fall TV Line-Up special. Need to know more? Go here. Otherwise, let’s get to the shows on ABC.

THE NEIGHBORS: It’s been a while since we’d had a sci-fi themed family
show (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids anyone?) but the time is right. And I mean time
as in time slot - ABC conveniently placed it among its other menagerie of
family shows, so it just feels right. As right as clone-esque and possibly
cannibalistic aliens can feel, of course. Will premiere September 26th.

666 PARK AVENUE: After a young, attractive couple’s job leads them
to a mystic, beautiful penthouse in New York City, they quickly get in over their
heads. The owner of the building and his wife are an older but powerful couple played
by Terry O' Quinn and Vanessa Williams. Their new home hides fantastical and seductive secrets. And…that’s
all I know. Hopefully what’s so magical about this building will be revealed in
the pilot. Will premiere September 30th.

LAST RESORT: While I wish this show wasn’t coming out during both an
election year annnd now a year where Libya is turning our war in the middle
east inside out, this show still does have an important theme. After some Navy
Seals at sea refuse to do a mission for the US government, something immoral we
could only guess, the government decides to take them out. And there is no way
they are going down without a fight - not against their own country of birth. Will premiere September 27th.

KATIE:
Katie Couric jumps on the talk show bandwagon, and whether
you’re a fan of her excessively sugary, bubbly personality or not, you
can
appreciate that her years in journalism gave her a lot of connections.
Already
Katie has talked to everyone from Demi Lovato to author of 50 Shades of
Grey. Matt Lauer's already made an appearance. And we’re only
getting started. Already premiered, watch at 4-3 pm central each weekday.

NASHVILLE: It’s the darker side of sweet country music. An older singer
nearing the end of her glory days suddenly gets a wake-up call when a young,
new starlet Juliette Barns (Hayden Panetierre) becomes the new talk of town, and suddenly
there just isn’t room for Rayna James (Connie Britton) anymore. There’s lots of secrets, horrible
people, life-changing decisions, and staring at rain clouds (at least in the
commercials). Will premiere October 10th.

As for the returning shows…

ONCE UPON A TIME: Storybrooke’s curse is broken and both the fairytale
characters’ identities and magic return to them. I don’t care what goes down,
but I hope there is more awesome CGI dragons.

MODERN FAMILY: Sofia Vergara is pregnant, with 1002-year old (give or take) ex-Al
Bundy Ed O'Niell as the aging father. Should be fun.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

It's part two of SSF’s Fall TV Line-Up special. Today we tackle the shows on CBS.

Okay, so CBS’s older audience basically has ultimate control over
ratings so, unsurprisingly, CBS doesn’t have a whole crop of new shows to
offer. After all, why fix what's as far from broken as possible? What can we expect though?

PARTNERS: So far this seems like a Will & Grace spin-off mixed with
Rules of Engagement’s flair. But if you find out more about this show, you
might like what you see. It’s about a masculine enough, heterosexual guy whose
best friend growing up is more on the effeminate side. However, the two work
together now and manage to help each other out in their rocky love lives
anyways. Will the relationship dynamic be enough to keep us watching? We’ll
just have to find out.

ELEMENTARY: Sherlock Holmes…like you’ve never seen him before! Yep,
just in case the British drama or even Robert Downey Jr.’s version of the
detective wasn’t good enough for you (Robert Downey Jr? Really?) then CBS has
you covered. They give the character a dramatic, crime show feel. Even better:
their “Dr. Watson” is *drum roll* female, Asian American Lucy Liau. Here’s to
getting farther away from the 50’s every single day!

MADE IN JERSEY: While true New Jersey-ians might be peeved that the
star of this show isn’t really “made” in NJ and that she’d hated having to make
her hair so big, they can appreciate her character. Janet Montgomery plays a lawyer from
you-know-where whose, ah, uniqueness helps her when it comes to cases and life
in general. Is it a crime show? Is it at comedy? You’ll have to see.

VEGAS: We got us some Dennis Quaid, some Michael Chiklis, some mobsters, and now add in the retro Vegas setting and...BAM. The masculine show of fall, I do believe.

Old favorites to watch?

THE BIG BANG THEORY: This show is in its ratings prime right now, which
means mega-guest stars and juicy story writing. Enjoy it while you can. It’ll
also be interesting to watch Jim Parsons as the lovably pretentious Sheldon
considering his quick, painless coming out this summer. Further proof that gay
actors will probably take up every screen.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: If you saw my philosophical predictions post
about HIMYM’s eighth season, then you already know that I truly, truly believe
this is the season we FINALLY meet Mrs. Ted Mosby. The clues add up. The
scenery is right. It’s all ready to go down. Until then, we can also look
forward to the HIMYM songs compilation album CBS is making. Robin Sparkles
better be present.

THE VOICE. Oh yes, you have
seen the dramatic commercials of Christina, Adam, Cee Lo, and Blake all jumping
in slow emotion to hit the red button. But is the hype worth it? While it seems
like every other singing show is undergoing major plastic surgery, The Voice
has only added a couple new “mentors” to its current approach. It’s no Britney
Spears…but hey, The Voice has always been about the talent first, as little
gimmicks as possible and *yawnnn*. Sorry, that was America’s attention span
shortening. (Already premiered, Monday/Tuesday nights)

NEW NORMAL. Okay, I will
continue tuning into this. From the “creator of Glee” (who I assume is extremely pro-gay rights) we get a cutesy show about a sweet girl with a young daughter
and “bigot” mother (I quote the young daughter) who decides to help out a young
Cam/Mitchell-esque male couple have a child. Her reasoning? She wants a
whole-hearted, complete family. It seems sugary sweet. Can we just make sure
Republicans don’t know about this show? I can hear the rants already. (Already premiered, Tuesday nights)

REVOLUTION: It’s an
end-of-the-world adventure where the world’s power is out and everyone has
crossbow and kills each other. Okay, okay, back up: it’s also about a girl who,
fifteen years ago when the “black-out” began, learned her father was involved
and grew up in a new world, a new life. When said father dies, she goes to find
the only family she has left - that is, if no one kills each other first. (Will premiere September 17th...or, you know, today).

CHICAGO FIRE: Um. Okay. So I
haven’t seen much about this show, but it has a refreshing number of female
firefighters and since my current “top” choice college is in Chicago, I am
required to say that it is the number one city in the world and everybody and
everyone should watch this show. (Will premiere October 10th)

GO ON: Matthew Perry! Group
therapy! Community-like randomness! A girl who’s crazy about her dead cat!
Everybody Hates Chris! Sure a lot of critics have ranted about its expiration
date of a premise (group therapy typically only lasts a few weeks, guys) but
the characters are quirky, dialogue snarky, camera angles fuzzy, and emotions
heavy. If you can deal with seeing Chandler Bing as a confident sports journalist instead of a self-deprecating underdog of the group, then watch. (Already premiered, Tuesday nights)

ANIMAL HOSPITAL: Based on the
pilot, I don’t see this “doctor” show becoming the next ER, especially with
legitimate hospital shows appearing on other networks. But why not watch, if
only to see the world’s most talented monkey and all his…well, monkey business.
But I’m serious. This monkey is in everything. IMDB him. (Premieres September 26th).

GUYS WITH KIDS: Well, in case you need a sitcom about grown men who handle the challenge of "parenthood" like bros...here you go. (Already premiered, Wednesdays)

SNL…WITHOUT KRISTIN WIIG AND
ANDY SAMBERG. Okay, sure, we have Saturday Night Live’s primetime election
coverage to look forward, and they have a lot of Mitt Romney jokes to get out
of their system…but no Kristin Wiig? No Andy Samberg? I just…I-I just can’t,
man. I just can’t. (Already premiered, and Saturday nights of course!)

Whattaya think of the NBC
line-up? What will you for sure be watching or avoiding?

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Well, the new fall TV season has started to kick into high gear this week. That’s right, whether you’re comparing Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears on their respective talent reality shows or taking in the New Normal and new seasons of Once Upon a Time, you will for sure have the remote handy this week. We know what to expect, thanks to half-hour specials and NBC already slipping in a few pilots here and there.

So get those remotes ready. Do some runs around the living room. Do the channel-switching relay annnnd go!

ABOUT SSF

Writer/blogger person, semiprofessional teenager, pop culture junkie, and gum chewer. Her fangirl-dom (-ness? -ity?) began in the elementary school days, when she had every Pokemon merchandise and carried around a Powderpuff Girls doll when others made up imaginary friends. Nowadays, she’s into more…sophisticated stuff. Okay not too sophisticated. Whether her mad skills, like writing over the word limit or knowing everything about every Harry Potter book or fangirling at the speed of light, will come in handy…remains to be seen.

Fun Facts about SSF!

SSF’s favorite band is Australian, her favorite singer is Canadian, and favorite childhood band was British (no, not Beatles, surprisingly). Yet SSF is supposedly just Arizonian (or so the birth certificate says).

SSF once received a tweet from screenwriter Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body, Young Adult). On 9/20/10 to be exact. It. Was. AWESOME.

SSF has only read the first two chapters of 50 Shades of Grey. She says it’s much like being a kid allowed to watch the first two scenes of a R-rated movie - then being told to go to bed right as the gore/naughty stuff begins.

SSF does have a YA/urban fantasy series WIP, which she’s been writing since seventh grade. She can’t share all the juicy details, but the plot involves dream world monsters, mental hospitals, and lots of indie music.

SSF does hope to be an entertainment journalist one day. Maybe all this blogging and posting pictures of LOLcatz will lead to great things one day. Until then, let’s have fun, shall we?

TO COMPLETE AND UTTER STRANGERS

Tune into Some Screaming Fangirl (SSF) for blogs that look at the YA (young adult/teen) side of the book industry, with a fresh, teen perspective. Also expect tons of pop culture reviews and discussions (you know, like movies, music, TV, videogames, other books). Sometimes SSF even does both! Entertainment AND writing tips! Like a playlist for writing fight scenes or what TV show finales can teach us or the different types of best friends you see in movies.

Is there a YA topic you want to talk about? Maybe a slice of pop culture you feel like fangirling/boying out about? Leave a comment or let me know at somescreamingfangirl@gmail.com. Or just hit that follow button. I like friends.